Come In From The Cold
by writermaus
Summary: Beca's got herself into an unfortunate situation. Chloe to the rescue - in more ways than one.
"Beca! Hi!"

"Ch-Chloe?"

The voice on the other end of the phone is small, and shaky. Chloe can hear her shivering – well, she can hear the phone cord rattling, she assumes because Beca's hands are shaking. Her teeth are definitely chattering. Looking out the window, Chloe can see the rain pouring down. No wonder Beca's cold!

"So what's up?" she asks cheerfully.

"C-can you come g-get me, p-please?" Beca manages.

"Of course! Where are you?"

"G-gas station. Corner of..." There's a pause while Beca obviously looks around for cross streets, land marks, anything that might help. Finally she gives the name of two streets, and Chloe grabs for her keys, pulling on a jacket at the same time.

"I'm on my way," she promises. But before she gets in the car, she takes a second to grab her thickest, fuzziest pajamas and throws them and a towel in the dryer, turning her electric blanket on full. Beca sounded like she was freezing, the poor thing.

It takes her ten minutes to get to where Beca is, standing huddled in the phone booth that provides little shelter from the rain. She pulls up alongside her, opening the door and yelling for her to get in.

"What happened?" she wants to know. "Why are you out here all alone? Where's your phone?"

"I w-was out with Jesse," Beca tells her. The car heaters are blasting on full, for which she is grateful. "Didn't bring any m-money because he said he'd pay. Phone battery died."

"Okay, so that explains why you couldn't call an Uber or something. But not why you're out here alone."

Beca bites her lip. "Jesse wanted to take our relationship to the next level. I told him I wasn't ready. We had words, and... and he told me to put out or get out. So I got out..."

"And he drove off." Whatever Chloe thinks of Jesse, this isn't the time for her to air her opinions. She drives, taking Beca back to the Bella house.

"Where is everyone?" Beca asks as Chloe bundles her inside.

"Jessica and Ashley have some kind of talent show thing tonight, they all went to see that. I had to work late. I just got home and was getting ready to join them, when..."

"When I called and wrecked your night."

"When you called with a better offer," Chloe corrects. "Now, come and get out of those wet clothes while I run you a bath."

"Dude, what is with you and trying to see me naked?"

"Pfft, it's nothing I haven't seen before. Besides, I'm more concerned about you catching your death of hypothermia than I am with ogling your goodies." She runs the bath, making sure it's hot but not too hot, and when Beca strips down she barely even looks before she's helping the smaller girl into the water.

She reaches for the bowl they keep on the side of the bath, rinses it out, and then uses it to pour hot water over Beca's hair. The heat from the water takes away some of the chill she's feeling, and Beca sighs in something approaching relief. Next, Chloe reaches for the shampoo, pouring a generous amount into her hands and beginning to lather up Beca's hair.

"I can wash my own hair," Beca protests weakly, but Chloe can see the younger girl is getting into it, enjoying the way Chloe's fingers feel massaging her scalp. Then Chloe rinses the shampoo out, following it up with conditioner.

"Are you going to tell me what actually happened?" Chloe asks finally. Beca is luxuriating in the warmth of the water, and Chloe has respectfully turned her back, leaning up against the side of the tub. Maybe it's the fact that she doesn't have to look into Chloe's eyes that makes it easier for Beca to talk. She takes a deep breath and starts to tell the story.

"It's like I said. He wanted to take things to the next level, and have... you know. Sex. I think he would have gone for it right there in the car if I'd been into it. But I told him no, I wasn't ready. He said I've been holding out on him for too long, and when AM I going to be ready. I said if he kept pressuring me, I might never be ready, because I'm not about to let some guy push me into doing something I don't want to do."

"Yeah, Beca!" Chloe cheers quietly. "Good for you."

"Anyway, the rest went down just like I told you. He told me to put out, or get out. I said there was no fucking way I was going to respond well to an ultimatum, any ultimatum, and I got out of the car. He yelled at me to get back in, and I refused, and then he kind of threw up his hands and drove off. And then I realized, I didn't have my wallet with me, and my phone was dead. I had literally nothing, not even any change in my pockets. The guy at the gas station took pity on me and gave me the quarter for the phone call."

"I could cheerfully strangle that guy," Chloe mutters under her breath.

"Hmm?"

"Let's get you out of this bath and into some nice warm pajamas," Chloe fudges.

She retrieves the towel from the dryer, as well as the pajamas, and helps Beca out of the tub. She's aware she's practically babying the younger girl now, pampering her beyond what her short time out in the rain really warrants, but it feels good to her. She likes caring for Beca, likes showering her with this love, because normally Beca's such a prickly little soul that she doesn't let Chloe do things like this.

She wraps Beca in the towel, and Beca, for her part, lets her. After drying her off, she helps Beca dress in the dryer-warm pajamas and begins drying her hair.

"I can dry my own hair," Beca protests again, but she doesn't exactly put up a fight. As much as Chloe is enjoying babying her, Beca has to admit she's enjoying being babied.

"I know." Chloe presses a small kiss to the side of Beca's head, and continues drying her hair. Then she grabs for a hair brush, gently working the tangles out.

Before long she's tucking Beca into her bed and climbing in beside her, feeling the last of Beca's shivers ending as the warmth finally seeps into her bones.

"Thanks for bailing me out tonight," Beca finally says.

"Any time," Chloe replies sincerely.

"There's... there's something else," Beca admits. "Something I didn't tell you. Jesse said..."

"What did he say?"

"He told me I'm the worst kisser he's ever kissed," Beca blurts. "He said I'm like a cold fish and that he was glad we never had sex because he thought I'd just lay there and make him do all the work."

"He WHAT?" Now Chloe really is furious. Bad enough that he'd left her there in the rain like that, but to say something that cruel, to destroy Beca's already fragile self-esteem... "I'm sure that's not true, Beca."

"I wouldn't know. He's the first and only boyfriend I've ever had."

"Is that why you didn't want to go there with him? Because you're a virgin?"

Beca nods yes, her cheeks flushed red. Chloe smiles gently and pulls her closer. "Oh, sweet girl. There's nothing wrong with waiting. I'm so proud of you for being true to yourself and not giving in to his pressure. One of these days you'll meet the right person, and it will feel right, and you'll make them really happy and, more importantly, they'll make you really happy."

"Until I run them off with my cold fish kisses," Beca quips.

"Would you stop? I'm sure you don't kiss like a cold fish."

"The only person I have ever kissed, says I do."

"Oh for goodness sake." Chloe kisses her then, and it's just surprising enough that Beca actually shuts up, her eyes closing as she sinks into the feeling that is kissing Chloe. Everything that had seemed mechanical and awkward with Jesse, suddenly feels instinctive and right. She had hated the feeling of Jesse's tongue probing inside her mouth, slobbering on her, but Chloe's tongue is lighter, quicker, and her lips are so soft, and it feels wonderful.

Someone moans then – it's Beca, and she pulls Chloe on top of her, wanting her there in a way she had never wanted Jesse there. They're kissing hard now, one of Chloe's legs slipping between Beca's in a way that really is entirely inadvertent. "God," she breathes.

"Yeah," Chloe replies dreamily.

"I, uh... So it wasn't awful?"

"Are you kidding? Beca... if there was a problem with the kisses you and he shared, you were definitely not the cause."

"He was way more... slobbery than you are," Beca admits.

"You weren't slobbery at all," Chloe laughs.

"And... you're not just being nice? You're sure it wasn't bad?"

"Have I ever lied to you before?"

Beca has to admit that no, Chloe never has lied to her.

It's been a long and stressful night, filled with revelations about herself and the people around her. Jesse is not the good guy she thought he was, for a start. She'd thought they were friends, and come to see that he saw her as some kind of vending machine into which he could put affection and out would pop sex. Even if she wasn't a virgin, even if she had been ready to take that step with him, finding out that that's all he wanted from her was enough to turn her off him for good.

And Chloe wasn't just a good friend, she was the best friend Beca could ask for. Certainly the best friend she remembers ever having. Not only did she save her tonight by coming out to get her, the effort Chloe put into the evening just astounds Beca. She'd been warmed from the inside out, cared for, and just... loved. Because that's what this feels like, she realizes. This feels like love, lying here in Chloe's arms and feeling so warm and safe.

Was she a lesbian? Did things not work out with Jesse because Beca was just into girls? Beca let out a sigh, a happy sigh. Sure, she had questions, but they weren't plaguing her or anything. She felt content.

"You okay?" Chloe asked, hearing the sigh.

"Never better," Beca replied with a wide, sleepy smile, snuggling in a little tighter and closing her eyes. "Seriously."


End file.
